Ministers must end their silence on "Top Secret" Nkandlagate report

I will today write to both the Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, and the Minister of State Security, Siyabonga Cwele, to call on them to end their continued silence over the invalid classification of the Nkandlagate report, and to provide answers on why they continue to conceal the report given that it has not been classified in terms of any law. 

It was revealed last week, following the DA's attempts to uncover on what basis the report was referred to the closed Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, that the document has been ‘classified' as "Top Secret" in terms of the Minimum Information Security Standards. This is cabinet policy and not a law which has passed through Parliament.

I have provided Minister Nxesi an opportunity to provide us with these answers, but he remains silent. The Deputy Minister of Public Works, Jeremy Cronin, when questioned in Parliament has equally side-stepped this issue and has provided no legal basis for why the report has been classified. 

It is therefore clear that these efforts form part of a deliberate plan to keep the report out of the public domain and to protect President Zuma from being held accountable.

It is imperative that both these Ministers find their voice and provide the public with an explanation without delay. 

Statement issued by Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, DA Parliamentary Leader, June 25 2013

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